Modelization of Thermally Induced Jitter in an Orbiting Slender Structure

Thermomechanical interactions onboard spacecraft are an interesting field of research. Since Bruno Boley’s 1954 publication, numerous authors have contributed, if not with a multidisciplinary perspective. The Alouette 1 anomaly in 1962 signaled the start of a long succession of unexpected events due to mechanical and thermal interaction. This study uses a simple model to illustrate the basic mechanism behind thermal shock-induced elastic vibrations. This occurs when a spacecraft’s flexible appendage is previously shadowed by its main body after an attitude maneuver (Ulysses, 1990) or during shadow-sun transitions and vice versa. A thin structure was used to compare thermal and mechanical characteristic times and realize the strong coupling. The accurate thermal analysis offers a time-dependent thermal bending moment that triggers elastic transverse vibrations. This study aims to conduct a more in-depth analysis of the thermally induced vibration caused by solar heating. To investigate thermally induced vibrations, an analytical method is proposed that allows the designer to effectively analyze a thermally induced problem while retaining the model’s nonlinearity. This study presents a new design guideline for analyzing thermal jitter in a slender spacecraft structure and a step-by-step procedure for studying and analyzing thermal jitter.